


Humanity's Finest

by thewesterndoor



Series: Strange Neighbours [7]
Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Accidental Voyeurism, Aged-Up Character(s), Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Neighbors, Awkward Crush, College Student Eren Yeager, Fluff and Humor, Gay Disaster Eren Yeager, M/M, Masturbation in Shower, Pining Eren Yeager
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-05
Updated: 2020-04-05
Packaged: 2021-02-28 21:16:21
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 9,686
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23493817
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thewesterndoor/pseuds/thewesterndoor
Summary: Eren catches more than an eyeful of his hot new neighbour.  It's lust at first sight, but when he actually meets the man, Eren might actually start falling for him.Part of a series of one-shots for different ships.
Relationships: Levi/Eren Yeager
Series: Strange Neighbours [7]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1090296
Comments: 18
Kudos: 237





	Humanity's Finest

**Author's Note:**

> This fic was a plot bunny that I chased down for nekoshka (it began its life as a fic she was writing before she had me take over and I restarted it). Many thanks to her for beta reading as well.
> 
> Also, I have one direct follow-up fic (with more smut!) and a Ymir/Historia fic with background ereri (in the same ridiculous AU) already written. I'll be editing those over the next few weeks and trying to get them posted soon.

“Don’t tell me,  _ you _ —Eren Kill-Them-All Jaeger—are actually going to skip paintball to stay home and unpack?”

Eren glanced up from the tangle of wires in his lap and smiled at the faux shock in Armin’s wide blue eyes. He probably should’ve felt more embarrassed about the nickname but, goddammit, he’d  _ earned _ it on the paintball battlefield. 

“Tell everyone this is my gift to horseface,” Eren said before he turned back to trying to free the HDMI cable from the mess.

Armin chuckled softly as he pulled on his shoes.

“Not much of a gift. Mikasa is still going to destroy him. You sure you want to miss that?” Armin wheedled.

Normally Eren was the first up for paintball—usually  _ he _ was the one who’d browbeaten everyone into going—but today…he kind of just wanted to appreciate being in his own place. It might’ve been a shared apartment, and one where Armin had done most of the work to find it, but from the moment they’d moved in it had Eren feeling…different somehow. It was like another small step that he could claim towards being a functional adult. From what they’d seen when they moved in, most of the other tenants in their building were also university students, but it was still miles above the dorm he’d lived in for the past two years. Moving off campus––living somewhere with an  _ oven _ ––felt auspicious in a way that Eren wanted to savour.

“Yeah, I’m good, but thanks. I kind of want to just do some unpacking and get stuff settled.”

Armin stared hard at Eren, shaking his head.

“Do I need to worry about you? Is this a clone situation? Did all of those paid Psych experiments finally do something to you?” Armin said with a laugh.

“Shut the fuck up,” Eren said, fighting an answering grin. “I’m allowed to want a quiet afternoon…wait, no, you’re right. Something clearly is wrong with me.”

“So come to paintball.”

“But just think how sweet it’s going to be when we have all of our game stuff set up. I can already hear horseface’s cries as he loses.”

“Well…” Armin said as he finally turned towards the door, “If that’s what you want. Just try not to break anything valuable.”

“Armin, we don’t  _ own _ anything valuable. Our glasses are literally old jam jars.”

“If you’d take the time to peel off the fucking label, we could try to start some sort of lifestyle blog…”

“Get going. Mikasa will be mad if you’re late for the booking. Take pictures of Jean when he cries.”

Armin smiled and nodded as he hurried out of the apartment, leaving Eren alone with just the hum of the air conditioner and the pile of boxes around the living room.

The work was slow going, but Eren felt a thrill as the room was starting to take shape around him. It was still the same shitty couch that he and Armin had found left out on the curb and the ragged IKEA entertainment centre that Armin had rescued from his grandpa’s basement, but Eren felt stirrings of pride.

He shelved the last of his games and finally allowed himself a break. Taking a step back, he surveyed the milk crates, admiring the alphabetized collection of games. It was quite possibly his greatest work––definitely cause for him to grab one of the beers that he’d stuck in the fridge earlier.

On his way to the kitchen area, movement through the large living room window caught Eren’s attention and he paused. It took him a moment to realize what he was seeing, but as soon as the sight actually registered, Eren felt his cheeks go warm and his heart lurch.

“Jesus fucking Christ,” he hissed, unable to do anything but stare.

Out the window, Eren was able to see straight into someone’s bedroom in the neighbouring building. A bedroom where a mirror had been set-up to give Eren a perfect view of his new neighbour. A perfect view of his  _ naked _ neighbour. The mirror was at a height and angle where Eren couldn’t see anything above his neighbour’s lean, sculpted shoulders, but it was just right for Eren to see pale abs and a pretty glorious cock. Even soft it had the sort of length and thickness that gave Eren  _ ideas. _ Heat settled in Eren’s stomach, flaring up bright and sharp through his chest.

Even with the distance between the buildings, Eren could make out a slight flush across the man’s bare skin and what looked like beads of water tracing the lines and ridges of his body. Pressure coiled low in Eren’s gut as he watched the water trail downwards.

Tearing his gaze away, Eren tried to remind himself that he wasn’t that sort of pervert. He wasn’t the type of person who creeped on his neighbours, or who got half-hard watching the way some stranger slowly towelled off. 

He took a ragged breath and stalked over towards the fridge. Quickly he grabbed a beer, twisted off the cap and then downed it in two long gulps; a second later he reached back in and grabbed another. With the cold bottle in his palm, he felt a little more anchored to reality. He turned back towards the living room and carefully approached the window.

As the neighbour came back into view, Eren caught a final flash of muscled hips and thighs moving before the mirror was empty.

He threw himself backwards onto the couch and took a slow sip from his beer, trying to let his pulse slow and the warmth in his limbs fade. As his body cooled, guilt rose up.

What in the actual fuck was wrong with him? He’d been living in the building less than twenty four hours and already he was spying on his naked neighbour.  _ Fantasizing  _ about his naked neighbour if he was honest.

_ It’s fine _ , he told himself.  _ Just shock. I was too surprised to look away. Next time, I won’t look. Or I’ll just close the blinds. _

This wasn’t a big deal. It was totally fine. If it happened again, Eren would definitely act like the adult he was supposed to be. He was sure of it.

#

Heat pressed close against Eren’s skin in a sticky cloud. Summer was supposed to be over, the year swinging into sweater weather and pumpkin spice everything, but instead they’d ended up with one final heat wave.

All Eren wanted to do was stagger into his apartment, peel off his sweat-soaked shirt, and collapse directly in front of the air conditioner. But that had to wait until later. 

For days Eren had promised to drop off the last of their paperwork, and for days he had been forgetting. 

Old Eren would’ve been fine to keep letting it slide until someone else—Armin or Mikasa—took care of it all, but New Eren,  _ grown-up _ Eren, was determined to see it through. So that morning he’d shoved all of the forms into his backpack before leaving for campus. After his last class, instead of going straight home, he’d forced himself to continue past the entrance of his building and down to the parking lot where the rec centre sat.

When he swiped his key fob over the pad and let himself into the squat building, he was greeted with a rush of cool air. Just inside the door, Amon was locking up the business office.

“Don’t tell me you’re out of here for the day?” Eren groaned.

Amon looked up, his face impassive. Seeing the crisp lines of Amon’s white shirt and his wrinkle-free trousers, Eren was increasingly aware of the sweat stains that had bloomed across his t-shirt and the fact that he hadn’t brushed his hair since…probably before the move. It was an uncomfortable reminder of just how far Eren was from being an adult.

“Do you have those forms for me?”

“Yeah, I mean yes!” Eren tugged off his backpack and opened it up. He quickly found the pages, a little crumpled but otherwise okay, and handed them over. He probably should’ve felt bad that he was clearly keeping Amon past office hours, but he was just excited to be able to tell Armin that he’d turned all the stuff in.

Amon took the pages and rifled through them. He jerked his chin over towards the nearby bench.

“You might as well grab a seat. It’ll take a couple of minutes to log this,” Amon said before he disappeared into the office.

“Uh, sure,” Eren called after him.

Eren dropped down onto the bench, suddenly aware that he’d run almost the entire way back from the university. Normally a run of that distance wouldn’t have been a problem, but with the sudden heat wave, it had been pure hell. Now that he was inside the air-conditioned building, he could feel his sweat-soaked shirt clinging coldly to his back. For the moment, the cold was a relief, especially when Eren pulled his hair up off his neck and fastened it into a loose knot.

He slumped back against the wall and took a deep breath, finally taking a look around. The building had been built sometime around the 80s and it showed, even if it had its own kind of charm. From where Eren sat, he could see the entrance to a weight room that looked decent enough. The building even had a cork board crowded with notices––people trying to get a volleyball team together for the nearby park, a request for Monsters and Mana players, an offer of self-defence classes, and notices of things for sale.

One of the signs caught Eren’s attention. It was little more than a piece of paper, hand written in black marker with painfully neat lettering, but someone had taken the time to get the spacing perfect so that there was an equal margin of white space all the way around. Eren suspected that if he put a spirit level to the top edge, the sign would be exactly parallel to the floor. It was perhaps a little silly but there was something about the sign that made Eren smile. It took him a good minute or two before he actually read the words.

_ Two bedside tables for sale. Good condition. _

Excitement buzzed through Eren’s limbs. Armin had been bitching about needing to go buy bedside tables for his room. If Eren could show up at home with those tables as well, he’d be a goddamned hero. Or at least Armin might forget how long it had taken him to get it all done. 

Eren pulled out his phone and texted the number on the sign.

Barely half a minute had passed before Eren heard the chirp of an incoming text. It wasn’t the friendliest reply––it actually just said  _ 2C, ten minutes _ ––but that was all Eren needed.

When Amon came back with the papers, Eren gave him a sunny smile. He grabbed the pages and hurried back outside. Time for him to get the tables, make Armin happy, and then relax in the comfort of his own air conditioning knowing that he’d  _ earned _ his marathon game session tonight.

#

Proudwood Towers had the same 1980s blocky design of Proudwood Heights and the rec centre, but this one felt a little nicer. Maybe it was the absence of abandoned flyers by the mailboxes or the potted fern by the elevator, but this building didn’t quite scream student housing in the same way that Eren’s did—at worst it was a soft whisper.

Eren hurried over to the stairs and took them two a time, quickly reaching the second floor. He found the right apartment and rapped his knuckles against the door. From inside he heard shuffling followed by the unmistakable sound of cursing; Eren couldn’t help his grin.

“Hi!” Eren said as soon as the door opened. “I just texted you about the bedside tables?”

Eren’s voice died in his throat as the door finally swung wide enough for him to get a proper glimpse of the person inside. The man was short—shorter than Armin even—but where Armin’s size often made him look delicate and doll-like, this man looked…cool. And tough. His dark hair was shaved into an undercut and his grim expression made Eren want to see what it would take to make him smile. He was dressed in a plain t-shirt and dark wash jeans but still managed to look put together in a way Eren could never manage. Maybe it was the complete absence of wrinkles or stains?

“You coming in or what?” The man’s voice was a low growl that ricocheted across Eren’s nerve endings and sent sparks spinning out to gather in his stomach. 

“Uh, yeah, of course. I’m Eren. I live in the building over,” Eren started to point over his shoulder but realized that he’d lost his orientation and wasn’t sure  _ which _ direction his building was. He smiled broadly, hoping his full blown insta-crush wasn’t obvious, and said, “I’m in the other building.”

“Look, I haven’t got all day. Either come in or fuck off. I’ve got shit to do today.”

The man turned around and walked back into the apartment, leaving the door open behind him. Eren took a deep breath to settle the sudden flutter of nerves. He quickly kicked off his shoes and hurried off after the man.

“Do you have a name?” Eren said.

“Of course I have a fucking name.”

Eren stared at the man’s back, wondering what it would take to find out his name.

The man opened up a door and jerked his chin towards the interior.

“The tables are there. Had ‘em for six years, gently used, hundred bucks for the set.”

The room, like the rest of the apartment, was almost painfully neat. The whole place had the feel of a showroom, minimalist and pristine. There were no clothes on the floor, the bedside tables in question were bare except for a charging dock on one and and a lamp on the other, and Eren suspected that if he pulled back the duvet on the bed he’d find hospital corners. Even moving in only a few days ago, Eren already had a hoard of dirty plates and glasses in his own room, and so far as he was concerned the floor was just another place where clothes and textbooks could be stored. For  _ days _ he’d felt like he’d levelled up his life and been smug that he could now count himself as an adult, but seeing this place just reminded him how far he had to go.

“You going to take them?”

“Uh, is it okay if I take a look at them?”

“Go for it.”

Eren nodded and managed a small smile before hurrying over to crouch down in front of the table nearest the window. He didn’t know what the fuck he was looking for, but he figured it would be too obvious that he was out of his depth if just told the man he’d take them.

The table was clearly some sort of flat-pack piece but on the nicer end. It felt like actual wood Eren delicately traced a finger along the grain, and wherever he looked he could see the signs of painstaking care that had gone into its construction. All of the screws were straight and flush with the wood and there were none of the odd gaps that Eren and Armin always got when they put together their IKEA furniture.

“Would fifty work?” Eren said as he pressed his hands against his knees and stood back up.

“I told you a hundred.”

The man’s grey eyes bored a hole through Eren and he wasn’t sure if he wanted to shrink away from it or to have that gaze on him while he knelt in front of the man and…

_ Christ, Jaeger, what’s wrong with you? _

First he’d been creeping on a neighbour—the memories and fantasies of that bleeding through into his dreams—and now…now Eren was all too aware of how  _ good _ this guy smelled, even from across the room, and how long it had been since he’d had anything other than the relief of his own fist.

“Oy, shitstain, I don’t have all day. Either buy them or don’t, but don’t think you can just stand there all day.”

Eren’s neck burned with the mortification of realizing he’d been standing there like some sort of idiot. Normally, he gave zero shits about what other people thought about him—he’d rather be who he was and if others didn’t like it they could fuck right off—but with this guy...Eren just wanted to be cool, though he’d settle for not ridiculous.

He caught himself just before he sighed, raising a hand to his mouth to try to cover it with a cough.

The man’s eyes went wide in alarm.

“You don’t have a fucking cold do you?” He uncrossed his arms and pointed in the direction of the front door. “You have one minute to get your disease carrying ass out of my home.”

Eren waved his hands, automatically stepping closer.

“No! No cold, just, I inhaled weird. It’s a thing.” Words were spilling out of Eren’s mouth and all he could do was hold on and hope that he wasn’t making it worse. “If you’ll take seventy-five, I’ll buy them.”

“Fine.”

“Yeah? Okay, great, uh, just let me call my roommate and we can take them today if that’s okay.”

“Sure.”

The one word responses weren’t great but Eren took them as a step-up from the naked horror that had been on the man’s face a moment before.

He tugged his phone out of his pocket and sent a quick text to Armin. Almost immediately there was a response.

“He’ll be over in a couple of minutes. Like I said, we’re just over…” Eren spun around, his gaze turning towards the window as he tried to figure out where his own building was. He scanned over brickwork and worn window frames until he was looking into the apartment opposite. Instantly he recognized the bright blonde bowl-cut of his closest friend. “Hey! I can actually see him from here—we’re just across the alley from you.”

Whirling around, Eren’s attention bounced off the mirrored closet door to the pattern of the bedspread that had held a niggling familiarity and finally to the man who was still giving Eren an unimpressed look.

Eren inhaled sharply as his brain finally slotted all of the pieces together, chased by a near dizzying hit of lust as he remembered the sweep of pale muscles and the cock that had begged for attention. It took every fibre of self control that he could muster not to let his gaze sweep down.

“So he’ll be here soon then? Because I’ve got plans. I’m not waiting around on you shits.”

Mouth dry, Eren tried to remember what words were. How could anyone manage to speak when they were suddenly confronted with the living embodiment of their wet dreams? And when the fantasy turned out to have the face of a model and the mouth of a truck driver?

It was a solid minute before Eren realized that he actually needed to respond, and by then the man had already rolled his eyes and turned away. Eren stumbled after him, trying to figure out what he was supposed to do.

What he  _ wanted _ was to get to know this man, and not just for what was under his clothes. There was an aura about him that drew Eren in, but he didn’t have the first clue of how to proceed. Somehow he didn’t think an invitation to paintball or to go to a frat party would work.

While Eren followed the man back out to the living room, he dredged through his thoughts trying to come up with something to say.

“So, uh, you didn’t give me your name?” The moment Eren said the words he winced, wishing he could take them back.

There was a  _ tsk  _ sound, and those grey eyes narrowed, assessing him.

Before the man could say anything, Eren’s phone trilled through the silence of the apartment, followed by Armin’s voice asking to be buzzed in. It didn’t take long before there was a soft knock on the front door and Armin came inside.

Everything went quickly from there. Armin handed over the money and then he and Eren each grabbed a table. All Eren could do was walk out of there quietly, knowing that the moment he stepped outside the apartment he would never have a reason to talk to this man again.

“So, uh, thanks?” Eren mumbled, managing a weak smile.

The man gave Eren a considering look while he held the door open.

“Levi,” the man said.

“What?”

“My name.”

Before Eren could respond, the man— _ Levi— _ had closed the door after him, leaving him out in the hallway. But it didn’t matter; Eren had got a name. That had to mean Levi wasn’t  _ completely _ uninterested, right?

It wasn’t until Eren had hauled the table back through his own front door that the soft warm feeling finally dissipated, and Eren realized that while he may have learned Levi’s name, he still didn’t have any reason to see him again.

#

“I’m cutting you off.”

Eren glanced between where his roommate was glowering from the far end of the couch to the can of Mountain Dew in his hand.

“What? Why? I haven’t had that many, only...” Eren tried to remember how many he’d drank but lost count around the fifth can. “It’s fine. I’ve definitely had more before, and—”

“Eren,” Armin said in that drawn out way that made it clear Eren had missed the point. “I don’t give a shit if you destroy your liver or kidneys or whatever with that shit. I mean, yeah, I’m definitely going to tell Mikasa and  _ she _ will tear you a new one, but I’m talking about this moping.”

“I’m not moping.”

“You’ve done nothing but mope for a week straight.”

Eren paused his game and threw the controller down beside him. He stood up, stretching out his aching shoulders, and started to gather the cans that had accumulated on the floor in front of him. Maybe he did need to lay off the Mountain Dew.

“Not moping.”

“Oh, I’m sorry,  _ pining. _ ” Armin’s grin was sharp, his eyes practically sparkling. It was at times like this that Eren remembered exactly how vicious his friend could be.

“Why would you think I’ve been—“

Armin held up a hand to cut Eren off. “Because I’m not an idiot? There was no way anyone could miss the looks you were giving that guy last week—the hot furniture dude—”

“Levi.” Just saying his name made Eren’s chest tighten.

It had been a whole week since they’d bought the tables, and he’d seen nothing of Levi since. Since that day even the blinds to Levi’s bedroom had been closed.

“And don’t think I missed the fact that the window in this room—the room you’ve been in non-stop since then—looks into his bedroom. Have a little dignity, man.”

Eren tossed the cans into the recycling bin and returned to the couch to fling himself back down with a groan.

“Dignity is for people who have hope. Did you see him? Like were you actually paying attention?” Eren said before he pressed one arm over his face.

“You mean did I see the grimace he had while we were there? Or the operating room levels of clean? You need to give up, because there is no way a guy like that goes for a disaster like you. And I mean that in a loving way.”

The worst part about Armin’s words was that Eren knew his friend was right. Levi was gorgeous enough that he probably had no trouble getting guys or girls, and his level of adulting was leagues beyond what Eren could hope to achieve. On a good day, Eren could aspire to merely be a mess.

“Okay, so maybe I have been pining. Where do I go from here? How do I move on, oh Wise One?”

An elbow slammed into Eren’s ribs and he finally lowered his arm so that he could glare at Armin.

“Go to the gym,” Armin said. “The longer you sit still, the more stir crazy you’ll get and the more you’ll drive  _ me _ crazy. We have that rec centre now. Go run or lift weights—something—and on the weekend we’ll go play paintball. Destroying Jean will make you feel better.”

In that unfailing way of his, Armin was right. Eren would go to the gym and throw himself into a workout until he was able to move on. 

It didn’t take long for him to gather up his things and get to the Rec Centre. He swiped himself inside and was met with the familiar whine of a treadmill. In the cubbies in front of him, there was already a small pair of shoes neatly lined up with a bag set beside them just so. Eren had hoped he might have the fitness room to himself but it seemed he wasn’t so lucky.

He kicked off his shoes and shoved them into one of the free cubbies before heading to the changing room. As he pushed open the door, he blinked in surprise. The whole building clearly showed its age, worn and dingy in parts, but the changing room was almost unsettlingly clean. The tiles were still a dated pastel colour, but the grout was a brilliant white.

Eren hurried in, shucking his clothes and pulling on his gym gear. He was about to head out before he glanced back at his crumpled pile of clothes on the bench.

When he and Armin had moved, Eren had joked about how he didn’t need to bother getting a chest of drawers, or even hangers, because the floor was his storage solution for clothes. And there, in the chaos of his own space, it didn’t seem so bad, but in this changing room that someone had ruthlessly cleaned, he felt a flood of guilt. It just looked…To leave his clothes like that here felt weirdly like an act of sacrilege—  _ disrespectful. _

_ This is what happens when you don’t go out _ :  _ strange fucking ideas. _

But Eren still walked back to the bench and quickly folded his clothes, arranging them into a neat pile. It wasn’t great, but it was better. Nodding to himself, Eren finally walked out and headed towards the equipment room. The sound of pounding feet and the grind of the treadmill motor got louder as he approached, and when he stepped inside the room his gaze instantly sought out the machine.

His heart stopped before abruptly leaping up into his throat.

The machine was positioned so that it faced one wall with the runner’s back to the doorway, giving Eren an uninterrupted view.

It was him–– _ Levi. _

Eren’s gaze drifted down from Levi’s dark hair to the exposed nape of his neck to the t-shirt and shorts that clung to his figure, showing off exactly how muscled he was. The memory of that body naked flared to the front of Eren’s mind, and he had to force it back down lest he embarrass himself.

Eren wasn’t one for treadmills—if he was moving he wanted to feel productive, none of this running on a gerbil wheel—but he still dodged around the weight rack and hopped up onto the second machine.

_ Be cool. Be cool. Be cool. _

The mantra spun through his head as he chose a program and hit start. He casually glanced over at the machine beside him, trying to school his features into an easy smile of recognition. But when he looked over, he saw the sharp angles of Levi’s profile, rivulets of sweat running down his face, arms moving easily at his side as he ran, eyes locked in front of him. It wasn’t even clear that he’d noticed Eren coming in.

Eren tried to ignore the tightness that grabbed hold of his stomach and the accompanying crash of disappointment. This was fine. He was here to run anyway, so he would just focus on that…and…

He snuck another glance at Levi, this time to admire the flex and movement of his legs. Levi might’ve been small in stature, but he was all lean muscle.

Eren nearly fell when he paused for half a heartbeat at the thought of how athletic sex would probably be with Levi. He had to grab hold of the support bars to catch his balance. Of course,  _ that _ was the moment when Levi finally looked his way.

Levi reached up to one ear and pulled out an earbud.

“You alright?” he asked, not even bothering to slow his pace.

_ Jesus Christ _ ,  _ he probably has stamina too, _ Eren realized before feeling that familiar prickle of shame. What was wrong with him? He wasn’t normally this bad. Sure, he’d had his share of fantasies, but he also had  _ some _ restraint.

“Yeah, I’m fine,” Eren choked out.

One dark eyebrow rose up and Eren felt those grey eyes examining him in the same way as before, where it felt like Levi was seeing way too much. But Levi only nodded and put his earbud back in.

They ran in silence, Eren sneaking glances and Levi single-mindedly focussed on the wall in front of him, until Levi started to slow his machine down. Eren hoped this might be his chance, that Levi would pull out his earbuds and they could talk, but by the time his machine had reached a dead stop they hadn’t said so much as said a word.

Eren’s window of opportunity was closing with each of Levi’s efficient movements. From the quick way Levi grabbed the cleaning supplies to the sharpness of his hands as he sprayed and wiped down the machine, Eren knew that Levi would be gone soon. Every second that Eren didn’t say something was another chance slipping away, but all Eren could do was watch.

Finally, as Levi put the rag and spray bottle back, turning towards the door, Eren mustered together the shreds of his dignity and courage to call out, “See you around.”

Levi paused and stared at Eren, his face giving absolutely nothing away before he nodded slightly.

“Yeah.”

And then Levi was gone, leaving Eren to wonder what that response had meant. Was Levi agreeing? Was it a brush off? Had he even recognized Eren at all, or had he thought that Eren was some total stranger—as opposed to the stranger who’d bought his furniture? Eren groaned, pressing his face into his hands, and then nearly fell again.

“Get your act together Jaeger. You’re a fucking adult,” he growled before he bumped up the speed of the treadmill.

If he couldn’t calm himself down, then maybe he could literally outrun his feelings instead. It had certainly worked before. 

For fifteen minutes Eren ran, and any time his thoughts spiralled into the curve of Levi’s shoulders or the way his ass had looked in his shorts, Eren would ratchet up the speed. Only after his lungs ached and a stitch tore at his side did he give up and accept defeat. There was no way his brain would let go of the puzzle that was Levi.

He staggered back to the changing room and peeled off his sweaty clothes before stepping into the shower stall to turn the water on full blast. The cold spray stung as it pelted against him, but it quickly warmed up.

In one corner someone had left a bottle of soap, and Eren snagged it to squirt out a handful into his palm. Instantly he was surrounded by the scent of citrus and sandalwood. Eren slowly raised his hand to his nose to get a better sniff, trying to figure out why the smell was so familiar.

His bones turned to jelly even as his cock began to harden when he pieced it together. The smell was the same as Levi’s apartment—fainter then, but unmistakable. Was this Levi’s? Had Levi used this shower?

The image of Levi’s naked body flashed into Eren’s thoughts, but instead of just the trails of water post-shower Eren pictured streams of it, racing over planes of muscle and tracing the length of his gorgeous dick. And in his fantasy, he was there with Levi.

Eren reached down, trailing his hand over his quivering abs. He dragged his fingers closer to where his cock throbbed without quite allowing himself the touch he needed, wishing that it was Levi he was teasing instead. When he finally couldn’t stand it any longer, he wrapped his hand around his cock. And then it was just a mad dash, trying to hold back his groans as he pumped along his length, breath stuttering at the feel of his calloused palm and his thoughts consumed by what it would be like to have Levi’s steely grey gaze watching him like this.

He came quickly—quick enough that he might’ve felt embarrassed if he wasn’t already ashamed that he’d just jerked off in a public shower. And yet, for the first time since he’d moved into the building, Eren felt better.

Maybe he’d just needed the release. He did some quick math and realized that it had been at least a week or two since he’d last taken care of himself—maybe all of this was just his urges building up and he’d been looking for an outlet. It was exactly like the time Mikasa made everyone do Whole 30 and Eren had started to dream about eating cheese sandwiches. He didn’t normally give a shit about sandwiches of any type, but a month without dairy or wheat had done weird things to him. So, maybe his infatuation was nothing more than his neglected libido striking back.

As Eren walked back to his apartment, he told himself that he was ready to move on. But when he pulled his phone out, he still made a point to check the time, wondering if that was when Levi regularly went to the gym. Not that Eren had any intention of checking. Because that would be pathetic.

#

Two weeks later and Eren was back in the weight room. He had actually been back every day since he’d first seen Levi there.

_ It’s because of the convenience _ , he told himself yet again. It had nothing to do with the now familiar sight of Levi running on his machine, or the small half-wave of acknowledgment that had gradually crept into their routine. And so what if he used to complain about how sterile workouts like this were? It was nice not to worry about weather or road conditions, or washing dirt and grass stains out of his workout clothes. This was Eren evolving into an adult and not his crush hitting peak levels of pathetic. And so what if he got a thrill chasing from his throat to his gut when Levi took out one earbud and actually said hello?

“Back again, brat?”

Eren laughed, the sound more like a wheeze as he adjusted to the pace.

“What can I say? It’s the sterling company that keeps bringing me back.” Eren hoped his tone was light enough that Levi would pass it off as a joke.

Levi stared at Eren for a moment before his lips curved into a small smile.

“Impudent shit. I hope you’re looking after those tables…” He gave Eren a considering look and then shook his head. “No, you’re probably the type who jerks off and just wipes his dick off onto the sheets.”

“I’m not  _ that _ bad,” Eren said, trying to hide how flustered he was with mock outrage as he wondered how they’d levelled up to actual, honest to god banter.

“But not by much, huh?”

“Well, if it makes you feel any better, your tables are safe in the care of my roommate. They went straight into his room. And if you ever come over to my place, I promise that I’ll clean first.” The moment the words came out of Eren’s mouth he knew they were a step too far. Today was the first time they’d had anything that counted as a conversation and now he was talking like Levi was coming over? Eren needed to just stop talking. Permanently.

“If I come over?” Levi lifted one eyebrow and Eren wondered if the question was supposed to be teasing or dismissive.

“Well, yeah, we could…” Eren’s thoughts raced in on themselves until he didn’t know where one started and the next began. Why hadn’t he just shut the fuck up? But remembering the couple of game consoles he’d glimpsed in Levi’s apartment, Eren gave one last ditch effort. If he was going to fail, he’d rather it be spectacular than some mild fizzle. He was going to regret this anyways, so why not make it something  _ worth _ regretting and just shoot his shot? “We could play some video games.”

“Oh yeah?”

“Well, yeah. I thought I remembered seeing an Xbox at your place. My roommate and I have a pretty sweet set-up, but Armin’s usually too busy to play much right now.”

“And you think that I’m going to have more time?”

Eren could feel the back of his neck grow hot and an itch start between his shoulder blades. Why did things always go so badly with Levi?

“Relax, you shitty brat. I can practically smell your panic.” And then, after a pause, Levi added, “That was a joke.”

“Oh. Yeah, of course. That’s what I thought,” Eren babbled, turning his gaze down to the display of the treadmill.

They ran in silence for a few long minutes with just the sound of their feet against the belts and the groan of the machines. The familiar beep of the program let Levi know that he was finished and Eren could feel each of the thousands of possible scenarios he’d imagined since Levi had first spoken to him today start to extinguish. Levi slowed to a walk and Eren knew that it wouldn’t be much longer before he’d be left on his own. Again. Still with nothing other than his growing fascination with this gorgeous man who was spectacularly crude and apparently intensely fastidious.

Levi cleared his throat, and Eren darted a cautious glance over. The other man was staring, or even glaring, down at the console of his treadmill, but when he spoke his voice was on the gentle side of gruff.

“Send me a text when you want to play games. You have my number.”

Sound disappeared from Eren’s world until he could only hear the slam of his pulse in his ears. All of his thoughts burst into flames, and the only one that made it through was:  _ do I actually have a chance?  _

Before Eren could move past his stunned disbelief to do anything other than gulp and nod vaguely, Levi had finished his cool down, cleaned his machine, and was already on his way out the door.

Eren stepped up onto the running boards of his treadmill so that he could turn and watch Levi leave.

“Any days that don’t work for you?” Eren called after him.

“None of that student bullshit of two pm on a Wednesday or three am on a Monday—I’ve got work—but if it’s early evening or a weekend, I’m pretty flexible.”

And then Levi was gone, leaving Eren to grin like a fool at the empty room. He had a chance. Quickly he tried to calculate how long he should wait before texting. Was it too eager if he texted right now? And what day? Visions of his apartment filled Eren’s mind––the piles of recycling that still had to be taken out, the leftover takeaway that had never been eaten or thrown away, and the piles of random shit that had never found a home after the move. Eren thought back to Levi’s ruthlessly clean apartment and his own promise.

He slammed his finger against the buttons, bringing the treadmill to a halt. Then, he sprinted to the changing room to grab his clothes before hurrying out of the rec centre and back towards his building. As he ran, he started to text Armin to ask if they still had that broom someone had bought for a costume party, but quickly realized how out of his depth he was. He opened up his browser and started to google cleaning supply lists and how-tos on cleaning a whole apartment from top to bottom.

If this was finally going to be his shot to get to know Levi, then Eren wasn’t going to take any chances.

#

“Jesus Christ, Eren. Just text him already.”

Eren flinched at Armin’s exasperated tone and looked guiltily at where his roommate was reading a textbook.

“Is it that obvious?”

“Eren, it’s been anything but subtle for the last week. You came back gushing about how the hot neighbour finally had a conversation with you. He said that he was cool to hang out, and you clearly want to—what’s the hold up?”

When Armin put it like that it seemed so easy, but it didn’t  _ feel _ that simple—not to Eren. His gaze flicked to the window to look at Levi’s closed blinds before returning to the tv show he’d been pretending to watch.

“I just...I don’t want him to think I’m too eager, or...uncool...or...you know.”

There was a faint squeak as Armin highlighted a line in his textbook, and then he set the marker down and gave Eren his best buck-up stare.

“You’re overthinking it—it will be  _ fine _ . You’ve cleaned the shit out of this place, so I don’t think that will be a problem, you’ve got the cheese in the fridge—”

“That’s not for—” Eren tried to cut Armin off, but Armin quashed that with a single look.

“Eren, you just suddenly felt an urge for herbed goat cheese? You once got into a fist fight with Jean over string cheese. Don’t even try that with me.”

Heat flooded Eren’s cheeks and he smiled weakly at Armin.

“You really think it’ll be okay?”

Armin smiled and snapped his book shut.

“Of course it will. Invite him over and impress him with your cheese plate and ability to kill zombies. I can even get out of here for a bit.”

“Really?”

“Yeah, there’s a coffee shop just across the street. It can’t be any more distracting than you obsessing over Hot Neighbour.” Armin rose up from the couch and started to gather up his things.

Eren knew that it was a big ask to have Armin clear out for a few hours––midterms were just around the corner and even Armin’s single-minded focus was likely to be tested by the coffee shop––but Eren couldn’t bring himself to turn down the offer.

“If you’re sure...” he said, already pulling out his phone to find Levi’s number.

Armin laughed, waving his hand.

“Yeah, just don’t do anything on the couch. We  _ eat  _ there and I don’t want to worry about whether the stains are from my sandwich or Hot Neighbour.”

Eren’s thumb froze where it was tapping out a message as he was suddenly faced with the prospect of him and Levi together. Alone. Right here. It was probably a little far-fetched to think that they would do anything other than eat cheese and play games, but Eren couldn’t stop himself from imagining what else they could do _. _ He pictured Levi sitting on the couch, legs spread, cock flushed and hard while Eren knelt in front of him. It would start with gentle licks––Eren nuzzling along his length, watching Levi’s reaction to find out what he liked best––and build to Eren wrapping his mouth around Levi, taking him deep and hard while Levi’s fingers gripped Eren’s hair, guiding him and pulling him down farther...

Pressure built low in Eren’s gut and he shifted in his seat, trying to casually adjust the fit of his jeans. Normally, Eren liked to imagine being the one to  _ get _ head, but there was something about Levi...about that lingering memory of his body that got Eren half hard at the thought of giving it.

_ Not going to happen, _ he reminded himself, trying to keep his hopes in check. Maybe Levi would turn out to be busy, and maybe he had no interest in Eren other than as someone to play video games with.

_ Oh god, maybe he wants to be bros. _

Eren looked plaintively up at Armin.

“Am I an idiot? Like am I about to make a colossal fool of myself?”

Armin paused in the act of shoving a handful of pens and his notebooks into his bag to give Eren a considering look. 

“Well, I think we both know that you’re definitely an idiot, but if you mean about Hot Neighbour, I think you’re fine.”

“But...”

“Eren,” Armin said, his blue eyes serious, all teasing gone. “Text him. Worst that can happen is he just says no. And then you move on.”

“But what if he doesn’t like me? What if he likes girls?”

“You just hang out and part ways. No harm, no foul. Just send the man a damn text. And leave some of the cheese for me.”

Armin squeezed Eren’s shoulder and then headed for the door. He was halfway outside the apartment when he turned and fixed Eren with an impish look, his eyes sparkling.

“I’ll be studying for the next three or four hours. If you think you’ll need longer, send me a text and I’ll go crash with Mikasa and Jean.” And then Armin disappeared into the hallway, the door closing after him.

Eren gave himself another five minutes of staring at his text screen before he finally tapped out a message.

_ Hey! It’s Eren. U still up for games? _

Message sent, he put the phone face down on the cushion beside him and fought the urge to just watch it and wait for any sign that Levi was going to reply. Instead, he did a quick survey of the room. It was still unmistakably the home of two broke college students, but at least it looked clean.

The phone dinged and Eren fumbled to pick it up.

_ Sure. When? _

Eren had to take a breath to try to stop his fingers from shaking before he replied.

_ Now? Rmmate is out for a while. _

The reply was almost instant.

_ You couldn’t have just typed out ‘Roommate? Or let autocomplete catch it? Really? _

Eren’s heart lurched in his chest as he tried to figure out what the response meant. Was that a yes? But it was quickly followed by another message.

_ I’ll be over in ten minutes. Where do you live? _

Eren was pretty sure he was having an out of body experience. His head was buzzing and the tremor was back in his limbs, but somehow he managed to give Levi his apartment and call box number. 

Desperately, Eren raced around the apartment, picking up the few stray items that had survived his cleaning and tossing them into Armin’s room. Then he hurried to the fridge. First up was the cheese he’d bought, which he tossed onto the one plate that hadn’t come free from an event or been stolen from the dining hall. It didn’t look  _ great _ , certainly not like the pictures of cheese boards he’d seen in his desperate Googling. But Eren was in too far to back out now, so he grabbed the bag of Craisins from the cupboard, sprinkled a handful of them across the plate—the pictures always seemed to have fruit—and then he opened up a sleeve of saltines to spread them around the sides.

Still no better, but it would have to do.

Through the window, Eren saw the glow of Levi’s lights turn off and he felt something inside him quiver. Levi would be on his way now. He would be  _ here _ any minute.

It didn’t take long before he was buzzing Levi in. Eren hurried to the door to wait for the knock, only to wonder if that was too eager. Would it be weird if he opened the door right away? It would probably be better if he made it seem like he was doing something and had to come out to open the door. Or maybe  _ that _ would be weird? And, oh god, what did he  _ say _ ? 

With each twist of his thoughts, Eren’s chest tightened and his mind started to go blank. By the time he heard the knock at the door, he was frozen with his hand on the doorknob for a full thirty seconds trying to figure out what to do. He finally realized that he needed to actually open the door.

The door opened with a lurch and Eren’s breath caught when he saw Levi standing out in the hallway. Any hope of making a cool impression vanished as Eren just stared at him. It wasn’t entirely Eren’s fault though. Levi was wearing a white button up, the top button undone and the cuffs of his sleeves rolled up over his forearms. And his pants...They were the sort of trousers Eren thought of as work pants––black, tailored, and not denim––and Eren’s mouth went dry when he noticed the way they fit over Levi’s thighs. He’d thought the gym clothes were good, but this...this was every one of Eren’s office place fantasies coming to life.

Levi lifted one brow and nodded towards the apartment beyond.

“You going to let me in?”

_ Shit. _

“Yeah, of course. Sorry. Come on in. It’s been a hectic day and my thoughts kind of disappeared there.”

Again that brow went up, but a slight smile chased across Levi’s lips, and more importantly he followed Eren in.

“So, uh, you can just grab a seat. I’d say anywhere, but there’s only the couch. Unless you’d like to sit on the floor. But probably not, right? And, uh, I got some snacks. Well, I got cheese.” Eren couldn’t stop the flow of absolute garbage coming out of his mouth. He could hear how ridiculous—how  _ nervous— _ he sounded, but he couldn’t stop.

Eren hurried over to the kitchen counter and grabbed his cheese plate. He stared down at it for a moment in pure panic before he turned around, pasting a smile across his face.

Levi had ambled over to the shelf of games, inspecting the titles before he looked over at Eren.

“Not bad, brat. Your dusting could use some work, but I give you points for alphabetizing this shit.”

“Yeah, cleaning is kind of new to me.”

Levi actually laughed a little at that. “No shit,” he said before he walked over to the couch and stopped to stare down at the cushions with a suspicion that Eren knew was probably warranted. “Tell it to me straight. Exactly how filthy is this couch? Because I’m not sitting anywhere that’s your spot to fumble around with girls.”

“Definitely not girls,” Eren said in a rush. “At least not in a long while. And nobody on that couch. I promise.”

Eren waited for some sort of response––something to acknowledge that Levi understood what Eren was trying to imply––but instead he just sat down and looked expectantly at the plate in Eren’s hands.

“Do you make cheese plates for all of your game sessions?”

Eren nearly tripped on his way over to the couch, barely managing to keep his footing though a few Craisins went flying. He hurriedly set the plate down on the coffee table in front of Levi before rescuing the fallen snacks. If he’d been on his own, he would’ve tossed them back on the plate without a thought, but with the weight of Levi watching him, Eren was pretty sure that was the wrong move.

“Uh, not normally,” Eren said carefully while he threw out the Craisins. Quickly, he added, “Is there anything you want to play? We could go with something like Mario Kart, or do you want something a little more sophisticated?”

“Surprise me.”

Eren grabbed a game at random and then settled on the couch beside Levi.

It was absolutely maddening. He could feel Levi’s warmth, smell the cedar and sandalwood scent of his body wash, but Eren didn’t dare look over. Instead, he focussed on the screen like his life depended on it, even as it turned to a whirl of incomprehensible colours. And then, Levi pressed his hand against Eren’s thigh. It was just for balance—it could only be for balance—but Eren still felt a hum start up just under his skin. He pressed his eyes shut, trying to remind himself that he was a grown-ass man and not some boy who could get a boner from something so slight.

Finally, Levi sat back, pulling away. Eren cracked his eyes open, sneaking a glance over only to find those grey eyes directed at him.

“You want to tell me what the fuck is going on?” There was no particular harshness in Levi’s voice, but Eren flinched a little.

“Just ignore me. I’m a disaster, but I’ll...do you want something to drink?” Eren shoved himself up from the couch, needing more space. If he could just get a bit of distance he might be able to calm his thoughts, and then he would almost certainly find a bit of chill. Not much, but at least enough that he could pretend he hadn’t made a  _ complete _ fool of himself.

Instead, cool fingers gripped his wrist to hold him in place. Levi may’ve been short, but he had the sort of fingers that would make a piano teacher weep and a grip strength that was just shy of painful. There was no easily shaking him off unless Eren wanted to make a thing of it.

“Eren.”

The sound of his name in Levi’s voice caught Eren somewhere in the middle of his chest, like a fist grabbing hold. If he was being honest, he hadn’t even been sure Levi had  _ remembered _ his name; it had only ever been brat, shit, or shitty brat. 

“We have energy drinks, and beer, and coffee, and…”

“Eren,” Levi said again, this time with more weight behind it. “Why don’t you sit, calm down, and tell me why you’re acting like a fucking automaton.”

Eren wasn’t sure his legs would actually work properly if he tried to move back to his spot on the couch, so he stayed where he was.

“Automaton?” he asked, trying to keep his tone breezy.

“Yeah, a fucking robot. Or a wind-up doll.”

“I know what one is, I just didn’t think that you—”

“You didn’t think that I knew what one was?” Levi let go of Eren’s wrist and raked a hand through his hair. It was truly unfair how the slightly rumpled look made him even hotter. Levi sighed and leaned back into the couch, his gaze never straying from Eren. “Just to cut through a lot of the bullshit we seem to be mired in, I came here because I’m interested. In you. Not some weird Stepford evening and not some ‘bro’ hangout. So, if you’re not interested, tell me now.”

Eren couldn’t breathe. All of the air had been sucked out of his chest and his whole body had stilled while Levi spoke. And then oxygen returned with a great whoosh and he caught fire. Every nerve ending lit up, every cell  _ rejoiced _ with the knowledge that Levi was interested. That Levi was there, with him, because he was  _ interested.  _ In him.

“I’m interested. Very. In you. Also.” He pressed his forehead into one palm and smiled shyly at Levi. “God, I’m even fucking this up. I swear I’m not this bad.”

“No? Even when you’re spying on your neighbours?”

Eren had been halfway to joining Levi on the couch when he froze and gave him a panicked look.

“You knew?” Eren moaned as he sank down, slumping over his knees.

He felt a gentle touch along the small of his back and heard a soft laugh.

“You have all the subtlety of a Labrador. And, believe it or not, windows work two ways. I was a little surprised when the neighbour who’d been watching me dress showed up at my front door.”

“And you weren’t creeped out? Why weren’t you creeped out?” Eren said, mortification ripping through him. Any second now Levi was going to realize that this was a mistake, call Eren a pervert, and then leave.

“One of the universe’s mysteries.” There was a slight pause before Levi added, “So, did you like what you saw?”

Eren peered through hair that had fallen to form a curtain around his face.

“God, yes. You don’t know how long I…” Eren caught himself before he made an even bigger embarrassment of himself. “But I also..seeing you around, you just seem really cool? And I…I just thought…I’m not normally this bad expressing myself, but I like you. And not just your…”

Levi’s smile grew broader at Eren’s vague wave of his hand.

“My body? Noted. Now, can we get back to our game? And if you can make me a decent cup of tea, I might let you kiss me tonight before our date is over.”

“This is a date?” Eren asked carefully as his heart beat triple time.

“Of course it is.” Levi rose up on the couch, sinking one knee into the cushion beside Eren’s thigh, his hand cupping the back of Eren’s neck. When Levi’s thumb skated along the curve of Eren’s jaw, Eren shivered and leaned into the touch. And then Levi’s face was right beside his, breath brushing against Eren’s jaw as he moved up to Eren’s ear. “Now, how about my tea?”

  
  


**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading/leaving kudos/commenting ❤️
> 
> You can find me on Tumblr at thewesterndoor


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